hopefully a last note on my poli sci class
since a few people have asked what sort of stuff i'm studying this semester, and i have to "study" for my final tomorrow, i figured i'd run down a list of topics we'e covered. you can ask me about them if you want, but i have no idea if i'll be able to talk about them intelligently. i may be able to do a reasonable comparison between topics, though.
- power, authority, legitimacy, sovereignty
- states
- democracy: direct & representative, liberal & illiberal
- authoritarian rule: communism, fascism, personal despots, military government, royal families, theocracy, ruling presidents
- political culture
- political economies & capitalism
- political participation, social movements, revolution
- electoral systems: legistlatures & presidents
- referendums
- voter turnout, voting behavior, elections
- interest groups
- political parties, party systems, selecting candidates
- multilevel governance: federalism, confederations, unitary states, local government
- legislatures
- political executive: presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential
each of those topics compare liberal democracies, illiberal democracies, and authoritarian states.
i have no idea what the essay questions will be this time around (he gave an example for the midterm that ended up being one of the questions). i'm on the a/a- line right now, so i think i'll be able to pull at least an a- for the semester. i can't imagine i'd bomb the final that bad. i really have lost my steam, though, so i'm super glad this is finally over.
i will admit that it was nice to finally get an understanding about some things that have made me feel like my opinions are based on something other than just "because." while i've thought our current electoral system is crap, i now know that the other systems being used have just as many downsides and would cause a whole bunch of new problems; i don't feel like i can jump so easily on the "scrap the electoral college! go popular vote!" etc bandwagon so easily anymore.
- power, authority, legitimacy, sovereignty
- states
- democracy: direct & representative, liberal & illiberal
- authoritarian rule: communism, fascism, personal despots, military government, royal families, theocracy, ruling presidents
- political culture
- political economies & capitalism
- political participation, social movements, revolution
- electoral systems: legistlatures & presidents
- referendums
- voter turnout, voting behavior, elections
- interest groups
- political parties, party systems, selecting candidates
- multilevel governance: federalism, confederations, unitary states, local government
- legislatures
- political executive: presidential, parliamentary, semi-presidential
each of those topics compare liberal democracies, illiberal democracies, and authoritarian states.
i have no idea what the essay questions will be this time around (he gave an example for the midterm that ended up being one of the questions). i'm on the a/a- line right now, so i think i'll be able to pull at least an a- for the semester. i can't imagine i'd bomb the final that bad. i really have lost my steam, though, so i'm super glad this is finally over.
i will admit that it was nice to finally get an understanding about some things that have made me feel like my opinions are based on something other than just "because." while i've thought our current electoral system is crap, i now know that the other systems being used have just as many downsides and would cause a whole bunch of new problems; i don't feel like i can jump so easily on the "scrap the electoral college! go popular vote!" etc bandwagon so easily anymore.